


Bewitched

by Totally_Legit



Category: GOT7
Genre: 2Jae, AU, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Fantasy, Idol Im Jaebum | JB, JB/OC, Jingyeom on the side, M/M, Mystery, Supernatural Elements, some smut, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:47:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26897668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Totally_Legit/pseuds/Totally_Legit
Summary: Being a successful Idol it was perfectly normal for Jaebum to have at least a handful of stalkers.Except that one.There was absolutely nothing normal about him.
Relationships: Choi Youngjae/Im Jaebum | JB, Im Jaebum | JB/Original Character(s)
Comments: 52
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I always say I'm worried you won't like it because it's so different. And then you always tell me No it's good. Now I'm really gonna start fucking with you ♥  
> Buckle up for a wild ride, honey buns ♥

He was fine, really. Reasonably attractive for his profession and never made a fuss. He didn’t say Jaebum’s name ever, since he told him not to, because he couldn’t stand hearing his own name. He moaned prettily, even though at least half of it was faked, it still sounded pretty and he always came. Unless Jaebum had a bad day and didn’t care and let him off the hook after finishing himself. He came today.

Jaebum threw himself down onto the bed with a heavy sigh. He didn’t feel satisfied, he never really did, but it was okay. It was fine, really. “Can I stay?” Seungwoo asked, rolling over and drawing his index finger over his chest. He shook his head. “Please? I’m so tired.” Seugwoo’s bottom lip protruded cutely as he showed his best pouty face. Some months ago Jaebum might’ve had to fight off the urge to fall for it, especially when he bumped his nose against his cheek. Not anymore.

“Negotiate that with Dang-manager.” Jaebum answered and yawned, pushing the lean, skinny body off himself and rolling away onto his side. “Get the light on your way out, will you?” Seugwoo growled. “I hate you.” But it had no malice in it. He was easy to handle, knew what he was doing. Jaebum heard him slide off the bed and taper around for his clothes. “You can call me always when you’re stressed.” He said over the sound of his zipper. “Don’t worry about being too clingy. I’m saving up for an exchange semester in Australia, I need the cash.” The mattress dipped when he leaned over him fully dressed and Jaebum eventually turned onto his back looking up at his pretty eyes. “You’re leaving me alone?” He sulked and watched him grin. “Don’t worry, it’ll be just a few months. Barely longer than one of your world tours. Besides.” He crossed his arms. “I know you have another boy on the side.”

Jaebum chuckled and dabbed his index finger against his own lips until Seungwoo leaned down and pecked him goodbye. “Speaking of other boys.” He turned back around halfway towards the door. “I almost forgot.” His hand waved up and pointed behind himself. “When I came here there was one sitting in front of your door. Is that normal?”

  
  


  
  


Jaebum slipped into a bathrobe, tying the knot tightly around his waist and some fluffy slippers before he opened his apartment door. He’d checked the monitor first, just to make sure there wasn’t anyone out there, but Seungwoo had long since stepped on the elevator to leave.

There was no reaction when Jaebum pushed his door open, the click loud in the late of the night. He leaned against the doorframe with crossed arms. “Stalker-nim.” The dark-haired head fell back against the wall and then huge, brown eyes blinked at him innocently from the place on the floor. He had his arms slung around his propped up knees, sitting back against the wall next to his door, facing down the hallway. “Hmmh?” He made. He should look tired, but didn’t. His pretty eyes were bright and attentive when they focused on him.

“It’s late.” Jaebum said. “And cold.” It wasn’t that cold inside the building, but it was winter still. “You’re gonna freeze to death.” There was a tiny flutter around the corners of his mouth, as if he meant to show him just the slightest of smiles. “Go home, I’ll still be here in the morning.” Jaebum waved his hand in a ‘Shuu’ gesture, but of course he got no reaction from that.

“I’m fine.” The boy said in his melodious voice. He turned his head back to look ahead again. “You have a good night.” Jaebum sighed. “Stalker-nim.” He looked up at him once more without fail upon being called. “You can’t sit here. The managers are going to see you or my driver and you’re gonna end up at a police station.” The boy snatched one loose strand of hair between two of his fingers, playing with it for a bit before tucking it behind his ear. “Please don’t worry about me, Jaebum-ah.” He answered softly and it wasn’t a hollow phrase of politeness, it never was with him. It was a serious plea. “Go to bed and sleep well.” He smiled. “I’ll keep you safe.” Jaebum huffed, but gave up and turned around to go back inside. “I tolerate you, Stalker-nim.” He spoke over his shoulder. “But I won’t stick up for you if you get caught.” He couldn’t fully suppress the tingling sensation that seemed to get a hold of him whenever the boy laughed. “I told you, don’t worry. I can look out for myself… Otherwise I couldn’t keep you safe, right?” Jaebum shook his head and stayed quiet.

When his driver picked him up in the morning, the hallway was empty.

  
  


  
  


Jaebum stared across the rest stop parking lot grumpily, spitting his flavourless chewing gum onto the ground and popping a fresh one between his teeth. “Littering.” He heard a jingling voice. “That’s some bad press right there.” When he turned to the side he found a flashing grin on a beautiful face, framed by dark unkempt hair. “Jinyoung-ah.” He said with a nod and averted his eyes to look away into the distance. He did, however raise his hand and allowed a cold To-Go cup to be placed inside.

“Can I drive with you?” Jinyoung whined. “I’m going crazy there.” Jaebum took a sip. “Just tell him to stop.” Jinyoung huffed and he heard a slurp. “Can’t. I like it too much when he bothers me.” Jaebum glanced over at where Yugyeom was bouncing about, excitedly chattering to one of the staff and found Jinyoung looking over there too. “I thought he’d calm down after I let him smash.” There was too much affection in Jinyoung’s voice to take him seriously. “You’re nuts.” Jaebum declared and sighed. “Jinyoung-ah….” He waited a moment until he had his undivided attention. “Do you believe in… dunno. Fate?” Jinyoung snorted. “No, dumbass. Why? Do you?” Jaebum shrugged. “No. Never have.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t even believe in real love.”

That had Jinyoung snort even louder and laugh dismissively. “Sure. Convince yourself of that you big old sap.” They looked at each other. “Don’t tell me you finally fell for one of your hookers.” Jinyoung’s raised brow mocked him. “Please tell me it’s the sane one.” Jaebum frowned. “Excuse me?!” Luckily there was a lid on his cup, otherwise Jinyoung would have spilled all the contents when he gestured wildly. “Come on. That one boy, he’s crazy.” He waved his free hand in front of his face. “He’s trouble.”

Sometimes Jaebum regretted telling Jinyoung so much about his private live. But truthfully there weren’t many people to talk to and at least Jinyoung knew how to keep his mouth shut. If there was anyone to trust with secrets it was him. “Do you think it’s even possible?” He asked, without clarifying anything. “To be with someone who’s… not… in the industry?” He looked over at Yugyeom again and found him looking back, flash him a big grin. “Probably not.” Jinyoung took a sip from his drink. “You’re supposed to be encouraging.” Jaebum complained, but received just a shrug. “Where’s the point if it means I have to lie? There’s a reason celebrities date only other celebrities and you’re like… The triple A celebrity type. I could tell you that, just because you’re famous it doesn’t mean nobody can love you for who you are, but… How likely is that?”

His big, brown eyes looked at him thoughtfully. “Don’t fall for him.” He said. Jaebum grumbled.

  
  


  
  


He wasn’t as low maintenance. He was selfish, controlling and forceful. Also a whole lot cuter. He had a squishy bubble-butt and luscious, full lips and big, round eyes that creased prettily when he smiled. He also liked to kiss. He straddled Jaebum’s lap, hands tight in his hair and kissed the life out of him. His tongue was hot and wet in his mouth, his fleshy thighs tight around his own and his dark eyes hooded, pupils blown in desire.

Jaebum liked that he desired him. He called him ‘Darling’ and ‘Sweetheart’ and sometimes he told him, between moans, about how he watched him on TV while touching himself. All of it was wrong and if the company knew Chunghee’s obsession they’d fire him immediately. So Jaebum never told anyone but Jinyoung. Their time together was passionate and wild and Chunghee’s hard cock pressed into his stomach when he sank down on him with a moan and Jaebum got buried in the tight heat of his gorgeous body.

He was breathing hard against his lips, soft moans of pleasure bubbling from his throat. Jaebum’s arms around his waist kept him close. “Who’s the boy outside?” Chunghee asked out of nowhere, his insides squeezing tight around his length. Jaebum’s stomach tingled and he shook his head, meaning to claim his lips again. The hand tangled in his hair pulled his head back painfully. “Is he another one of yours?” Chunghee insisted, eyes glinting dangerously. Jaebum groaned, letting his hips buck up. “No.” he answered truthfully. “He’s just a sasaeng. Don’t worry about him.”

Sometimes his jealousy left a bad taste on his tongue. Chunghee knew there were others. He should know he couldn’t lay claim. Jaebum wasn’t anyone’s and everyone’s at the same time. Nation’s boyfriend, not Chunghee’s boyfriend. He didn’t believe him. His bottom rolled against him skillfully, making his blood boil in pleasure. “Don’t see anyone but me.” He insisted. “Stop seeing him. And stop seeing Seungwoo.” Jaebum growled in response. “You shouldn’t even know his name.” He reached up to detangle the fingers from his hair, holding his wrists tightly. “Shut up and ride me properly. Or I will stop seeing _you_.”

It was probably an empty threat and Chunghee probably knew that, but his eyes narrowed and his lips pulled tight anyways. He freed his hands and pushed them against his chest until he fell back into the sheets. He hissed, leaning over him and adjusting his position until Jaebum was moaning again. “You wouldn’t dare.” He whispered menacingly. “No one can do you like I can. No one can satisfy you the way I can. And no one.” He leaned even further down, his hands on the pillows next to Jaebum’s head. “Loves you like I do.”

Jaebum’s blood froze despite his cock jerking in arousal. “You shouldn’t be taken advantage of by anyone.” His voice was serious, his narrow eyes were too. Jaebum felt fear settle deeply in his guts. That’s what the company had him take that psychology seminar for. Chunghee’s motions stilled on his hips and Jaebum meant to scramble upright, but there was a hand on his chest keeping him down. “I wish there was another way, baby.” He looked genuinely sad and that’s what had Jaebum finally shake out of it. He snatched him by the wrist to throw him off, but his lithe body had a lot of strength. “To make sure nobody ever hurts you.”

He’d seen it from a mile away. Though not like this. He knew one day things would blow up and fall apart. He hadn’t seen it coming like this. The flicker of light reflecting off the shiny blade. The manic expression distorting Chunghee’s pretty face. His own shout, strange in his ears. He watched the knife swish down, the sharp end pointing at his chest. It was quick at first, too fast to fully grasp it, but it felt like time slowed down as it neared him. Like it was going slower and slower and Jaebum wondered if it’s adrenaline, if it’s that what people are talking about when they’re explaining a near-death experience.

However, he didn’t think time was supposed to completely stop. With wide eyes and wildly beating heart he stared up at the pointy blade, frozen in mid-air just like the hand that held it, just like Chunghee’s face, petrified in a grimace of fury. Jaebum’s mouth fell open. It was silent for a heartbeat, two, then with a loud crash everything exploded.

Chunghee got torn off his hips with force, body flying backwards and crashing into the bedroom wall with a loud crack, then falling limp to the ground, the knife thudding to the carpeted floor, innocently still. Jaebum jumped upright, ears thrumming, heart tumbling and stared at the figure on the floor, motionless and silent.

There was a shadow in the corner of his eye and his head whipped around to find a person standing there, one arm raised, upright and fierce eyes fixed on the unconscious Chunghee in the corner. “Are you okay?” He asked. “Did he hurt you?” Jaebum instinctively looked down at himself, finding no scratch. He shook his head. “How…?” He asked. “What? How?” The boys gaze wandered in his direction and their eyes met. He didn’t answer. He stepped forward, light casting strange, flickering shadows across his cheeks. Jaebum shuddered, not knowing why.

“We can’t call the police.” The boy said, looking between them. “But not even you would want to see him anymore after this, right?” He shrugged. “Just tell the company to terminate his contract. He won’t remember what happened today.” Jaebum stared. He opened his mouth to say something, but his brain wasn’t working. “I’ll make sure he won’t come near you again.” This time when he looked at him, he really looked at him. He’d gotten a lot closer, standing right next to the bed and looked down at where Jaebum sat, dumbfounded and still frozen in shock. He eyed him closely and under his intense gaze, Jaebum remembered that he was naked. He grabbed the blanket and remembered that this person was crazy.

“Stalker-nim.” He said, meant it to sound strong, but realized he came off weak and insecure. “What the hell?!” His head tilted. “What are you doing in my apartment?!” He watched his brows crinkle in suspicion. “I just saved your life, dumbass.” He turned away. “You’re welcome.” He had. Jaebum shook off the stupor. He had, hadn’t he? Chunghee was about to stab him. STAB him. With a fucking knife. Was he? Jaebum saw it lying there, innocently on the floor. But if Chunghee had meant to do that, how come he was unharmed? How come he wasn’t injured? How could his stalker, of all people, have possibly saved him?

“Text your company now.” Stalker-nim said, squatting down to the lifeless body on the floor. “Tell them he overstepped some boundaries. Something. Don’t tell them what happened. It could get ugly.” “Okay.” Jaebum leaned over to retrieve his phone from the nightstand, then hesitated. “Don’t tell me what to do.” He chimed in. He saw one of the boy’s hands against Chunghee’s throat, two fingers laid out against his pulse. “He’s not dead, is he?” He asked in terror. “Nah.” A shrug. “Just unconscious. I didn’t mean to kill him, I was just a little harsher than intended.” Jaebum nodded despite him not being able to see it. He didn’t know why he was nodding. This whole situation was so bizarre.

Stalker stood up and came over to him. “I’ll be outside.” He said softly. “You can sleep safely.” Then he reached for Jaebum’s phone, picked it up and began tapping around on it. “How do you unlock my phone?” He wanted to know. It wasn’t the most pressing matter, but everything was overwhelming and he didn’t know where to start. “How’d you get into my home?!” He glanced at him briefly before focusing back on the screen. “I notified your managers.” He put the phone back down. “You can feel safe. I’m watching over you, okay?” Then he turned away and walked towards the door. “No wait!” Jaebum yelped and finally scrambled off the bed, clinging the blanket to his front.

There was a strange scraping sound behind him and he turned to find Chunghee moving. He cried out and jumped a step back, but then he saw that his eyes were still shut. He wasn’t moving his arms or his legs. His whole body dragged over the floor, slack, but weirdly angled as if there was a rope attached around his chest, like for a movie stunt and as if someone pulled it along. Jaebum watched in terror how he slid across the room and followed out the door. He couldn’t move.

He heard the scraping in the hallway, then the clutter and the beep of his front door as it locked. Then it was quiet.

  
  


“Jaebum-ssi?” He heard a gentle voice pull him from his thoughts. “Hm?” He saw himself in the mirror in front of him and he thought he looked like a ghost. Or rather, like he’d _seen_ a ghost. “Are you okay?” His stylist leaned down to look him in the eyes directly, not through the mirror and he nodded. “I’m fine, what is it?” She held up a few strikingly similar chains between her fingers. He shrugged with a sigh. “I don’t care.” He saw the fluster on her face as she nodded and put the rest away to fix one of the necklaces around his neck. Jaebum watched her through the mirror again. “Ask away, Noona.” He said as sweetly as he could, knowing there was something sitting on her tongue.

She sorted a few strands of his hair with her fingertips before speaking. “Are you up for it? You seem… off today.” Jaebum made a face that had her chuckle. “Does it matter?” He asked. “Not like I can bail out now.” He was a variety show darling, usually due to the fact that he had the infallible talent to switch his camera persona on and off on command. You didn’t need to be particularly funny if you had charisma and didn’t take yourself too seriously. He found out early in his career that making fun of himself was a surefire way to gain both sympathy and laughter.

To tell the truth, he didn’t feel like he was good to step in front of cameras today, but he still figured that his absent-minded, confused self would be charming enough. The only thing that bothered him was how he looked like he hadn’t slept. Which he had. He slept well in fact, when he actually went to bed. Too well. It just happened that he spent hours before going to sleep peeking at the screen of his door camera, watching the dark figure lounge around in the hallway. But whenever he collected enough courage to tear his door open, he found the space before him empty.

“Noona.” He whispered conspiratorial and leaned back to turn to her. She leaned closer with wide eyes. “Don’t tell the manager.” She looked left and right obnoxiously as if to see if someone was watching. “Yesterday I had Ramen and Soju.” With the same overdramatic gestures she slapped a hand before her mouth and gasped. “Jaebum-ssi.” She whispered loudly. “How obscene.”

“Ready?!” The director interrupted them and Jaebum got out of his chair a little more light-hearted, received a grinning nudge of an elbow against his side and winked at her. He’d do fine.

It was a big, important show, which was obviously good for his promotion. But the show being this popular also meant that not only were filming hours and location common knowledge, visiting guests would also be leaked frequently. In other words, when Jaebum exited the building, hell broke loose. It wasn’t ever like he hated his fans, but more often than not he’d just wish they’d give him more space. Physically. He hated big crowds, always had and it never changed when the crowd surrounding him continuously grew bigger. He looked down at the ground, bangs covering his eyes while he pushed past the legions of hungry fingers grabbing, reaching for him. He didn’t like to face them, he didn’t like to the see greed and disappointment in their eyes. He wanted to keep them in his mind as lovely, kind little creatures that knew nothing but affection for him.

He didn’t know what it was. Was it something physical? It felt like it, but it couldn’t be. The something, the jerk, the twist, the tickle that made him raise his head. He leaned against a parked car, comfortably with his arms crossed and one of his feet backed up against a tire. He was too far away to know for sure whether their eyes met in the middle and yet Jaebum was certain they did. The crowd calmed down. They didn’t stop yelling or screaming, but it wasn’t that noisy anymore. There was something like a shift, it felt a bit like a gust of wind or the aftermath of something startling. Jaebum couldn’t remember what he was staring at and as he looked ahead to see how much further it was to his car, he felt himself walking comfortably. The fans were still pushing and reaching and yet, even his bully security guards could walk comfortably along the free path between them.

Only inside his van and glancing out the tinted windows he remembered and his eyes sought out the car, but could find nobody leaning against it. Was it the right car? Was it the one behind it? They took off and as they drove out the parking lot he thought he saw a familiar face in the crowd.

  
  


“Do you believe in ghosts?” Jaebum asked thoughtfully, picking up a single slice of marinated cucumber to pop it into his mouth. “Of course.” Yugyeom leaned over the table to snatch a piece of fried chicken from his plate. Lucky bitch, with his tall height and young age and fast metabolism. He could gobble up calories like a lawnmower. “Why, have you seen one?” Jaebum chewed the tip of his chopstick, mumbling around it. “Dunno. Maybe.” “I saw a ghost before.” Yugyeom let him know. “I think one lives in my apartment. Jinyoungie-Hyung says it’s all in my head, but Dal’ sees it too. He barks at it sometimes.” Jaebum piped up at that. “Does it ever… do something?” Yugyeom laid his head to the side while chewing. “You mean like… rattle? Or throw doors shut?” He asked slowly, then shook his head. “Nah, but sometimes I find random things in weird places.” He took as deep breath as if he had a realization. “Ah, that might just be Dalkyum.”

“It might just be Jinyoung.” Jaebum answered, watching said _Korea’s sweetheart_ slither between the empty tables in their direction. Yugyeom sputtered. “What would Jinyoungie do in my apartment?” He squeaked, forgetting the honorifics. It was quiet for a heartbeat until. “You know?” He whisper-screamed. “Gyeom-ah.” Jaebum sighed. “Everybody knows.”

“What are you looking so gloomy for?” Jinyoung inquired as he let himself fall onto a chair and grabbed for some food. “Sunbae is being haunted.” Yugyeom answered for him, no trace of his shock within the blink of an eye. Of course, Jinyoung would just raise an eyebrow at him. “First it was fate and now what? Ghosts? Hyung I never took you for a believer in supernatural stuff.” Jaebum sulked. “I never said it was a ghost. I said, maybe.” Jinyoung waved his hand while his mouth was full. “What happened.” He said after swallowing. “Something happened.” Jaebum muttered. “The other night and it was strange and…” He trailed off. “I don’t know.” “I asked _what_ \- happened.” Jinyoung groaned. “Is it something to do with that boy?” Jaebum made a face at him. He always related everything back to him. He wasn’t sure if he never knew his name or simply refused to use it. He meant so say ‘No’, but then he realized that somehow it did apply. So he shrugged.

“I don’t know.” He sulked. “I can’t say. Just. Just that it was strange.” “Now you’re being mean.” It was Yugyeom who used his baby-voice to soften him up. “Tell mee.” Jaebum sighed. “So… I keep seeing this… person around and…. Somehow he suddenly vanishes or… I don’t know if he was even there. The thing that happened. I’m not even sure if it wasn’t a dream maybe, ugh. I just don’t know what’s going on.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder and found Jinyoung’s concerned face looking at him. “I know his contract was cancelled.” He said and of course he knew. “Whatever happened. Forget him. You’re under a lot of stress. More than any of us and… I hate to keep saying this, but please see a therapist.” Jaebum pushed his hand off. “I’m not crazy.” He hissed, but Jinyoung’s expression didn’t change. “I never said that. You don’t need to be crazy to talk to a professional. We all need to talk and… and I know you like him more than you should and all of that… It’s not good for you.” They’ve had this conversation more than once and as much as Jaebum appreciated the concerned voice, he hated the condescending words. “I’m just worried about you, Hyung. You’re hurt, I see that. It’s okay to be weak.”

  
  


“I’m not weak.” Jaebum told his ceiling, flat on his back on his oversized sofa and staring straight ahead. “For him maybe…” He didn’t even have a picture of Chunghee. It was too dangerous and he knew it. He was strong enough to resist the temptation to snap a photo while he was sleeping, curled in on himself in his bed, naked and adorable. He wasn’t strong enough not to miss him. Seungwoo was on his way already and Jaebum knew it wasn’t going to suffice. He shouldn’t be like this after what Chunghee did, but it felt so surreal when he tried to remember. Remember his twisted face, the knife, the way he flew off him and into the wall. It was all blurry and the more time passed, the more he wondered if it really had been a dream. Except… He’d checked his messages and he had, indeed sent a message to his manager to inform the company of Chunghee violating the contract and that had caused him to be fired. He hasn’t seen or heard from him since then. Expect, of course, Jaebum never wrote those texts.

He heard a couple of beeping noises and sat up. Same pattern of beeping again and he got up on his feet. Then the doorbell rang. “You changed your passcode?” Seungwoo asked, but he wasn’t looking at him as he opened the door, he was turned to the side. Jaebum peeked around the doorframe. Same posture as against the car, dirty sole of his shoe against the wall, arms crossed there leaned his stalker. He was looking back. Seungwoo’s face turned towards him wordlessly while he pointed his thumb at the figure with questioningly raised brows.

Jaebum faked an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes obnoxiously, but he was nervous, excited inside. “You can go ahead.” He told Seungwoo and made space for him to slip past, waited until he heard the bedroom door. Then it was just the two of them. “Is he gonna go crazy too?” Jaebum asked and watched his eyes narrow. “Do I need to be wary of knives with him as well?” The boy shrugged. “How should I know?” He asked. “But… If there is anything… Well…” he smiled and it made his face light up. “I’m here.” Jaebum swallowed. “You didn’t know Chunghee was gonna do that?” He wanted to know. The boy stared at him. “Why would you think that?” It had Jaebum cross his arms now, just as the other one’s untangled and fell down to his sides. “Well, you must have known ahead of time or you wouldn’t have been there so quickly…?!” It was bad reasoning. Just as he spoke he realized how absurd it was. None of it made sense.

“I don’t read minds, if that’s what you’re asking.” His stalker’s suspicious gaze was replaced by a much softer smile again. “I just hear very well.” Had he just admitted to having supernatural powers? Jaebum reached out instinctively and slapped his shoulder, watching him startle. “What was that for?” He asked. “Just making sure you’re not a ghost.” Jaebum muttered. He wasn’t a ghost, he was definitely solid. He rubbed his shoulder. “Of course I’m not a ghost.” He grumbled. It sounded cute. What?

“You were always out here when Chunghee was over.” It hurt saying his name, but Jaebum bit through it. “And you’re always out here when Seungwoo is over. So you’re suspicious of them.” He watched and listened to a heavy sigh. “Jaebum-ah.” He said quietly and Jaebum’s gut churned around his own name. “I might be an immortal witch who’s sworn to protect you at all costs. But I’m still your stalker.” Jaebum’s mouth fell open, his brain did somersaults. The boy looked at him with a sad face. “I’m jealous.”

  
  


“Where are you?” Seungwoo asked, tapped against his forehead and slid off him to throw himself in the sheets. It was obvious that Jaebum wasn’t in it. He wasn’t even sure he was still hard, despite Seungwoo giving it his all, moaning sensually, kissing his chest, the whole shabang. Of course Jaebum had immediately thrown his apartment door shut and walked to the bedroom on autopilot. But his mind was still in the hallway where his stalker sat and listened to him having sex. He didn’t even know what he was thinking about. Was he angry that the boy told him such a blatant lie in his face? Witches didn’t exist. Or was he stunned by the realization that supernatural powers did exist in the world and that that was the explanation for how someone could _drag a body across the floor without touching it_?

“Is it the guy out there?” Seungwoo questioned when he didn’t get an answer. “I don’t know why, but he gives me the chills.” Jaebum turned his head towards him. “Does he?” Instead of nodding, Seungwoo shrugged. “Mhh I don’t know. It’s just… Whatever.” Jaebum hummed. “Well.” He said and he was saying it because it helped him process. “I could see him giving you bad vibes. Since he’s my sasaeng, he’s probably jealous of you that you get to have sex with me and he doesn’t?” Seungwoo chuckled in the lighthearted way that Jaebum liked about him. “I guess so. I can call myself lucky. But…” He propped himself up a little. “I actually thought you might be sleeping with him.” Jaebum sputtered. “What?!” “Well he’s your type.” Seungwoo stated casually. “No he isn’t!” And just while Jaebum yelped that, he felt his face heat up and the boy appeared before his inner eye and…

He did have pretty eyes. Soft brown locks and round baby cheeks. There wasn’t anything scary about his appearance, now that he thought about it. “Can I ask you something?” Seungwoo tore him from his thoughts with unusual seriousness. “Hm?” he gave back, not fully there yet. “About Chunghee…” Now _that_ brought him in. He sighed. “You shouldn’t talk about each other. Or to each other.” He chastised. “Pfhh.” Seungwoo scoffed. “We’re colleagues. We knew each other before you. And.” He sat up fully. “He was devastated when you terminated the contract. But he wouldn’t tell me what happened.” Jaebum rolled onto his stomach and stuffed his face into his pillow. “And I won’t tell you either. If you’re worried it’s gonna happen to you, too, don’t. You’re a pro. He… liked me a bit too much.”

He felt the mattress give when Seungwoo got up. “Figured.” He gave back. “I told him he shouldn’t fall in love with you.” Jaebum froze. He couldn’t help how his heart tumbled in his chest. It shouldn’t. Those words shouldn’t affect him. Chunghee didn’t love him, he was _obsessed_. Those were two different things.

“I’m leaving. Can I get your new passcode or was that on purpose?” He asked, shuffling around for his clothes. “Purpose.” Jaebum grumbled back. “Gonna have to keep ringing the doorbell.”

  
  


He couldn’t sleep. So many things went on in his head and he figured nobody could blame him for that. He threw himself around and every time he turned, he was halfway there in his mind to just get up and open his door to check the hallway. When he actually did after hours of not being able to fall asleep, it startled himself. It was like he’d sleepwalked, though awake and came to with the door handle already in his hand.

The automatic lights clicked on and the floor was empty. He took a step outside, scanning the elevator doors, the window at the end of the hallway and sighed. “Stalker-nim?” He asked into the night, receiving no reply. It was only when he turned around and meant to go back inside when right there, next to his door he found him standing upright against the wall. No crossed arms, no foot up to stain the tapestry. He wasn’t there before.

It didn’t really startle him anymore. What did stun him, was how… gorgeous he looked. Jaebum couldn’t put a finger on it, he didn’t know why now, but… He was handsome, he really was. There was also another thing that didn’t seem to make sense and it spilled out of his mouth with no filter. “Why am I not afraid of you?!” He asked. In his pajamas, in his hallway in front of his apartment in the middle of the night with his most insistent stalker looking at him with big, innocent eyes.

“I should be terrified of you.” He clarified when he received no immediate response, his brain still working overdrive, still sorting. “You’re insane, you follow me everywhere. You break into my apartment and you have like…” He gestured wildly “Superpowers or something.” He noticed he was breathing hard. “You could probably throw me right out the window without lifting a finger, so…” He gasped for air. “Why am I not afraid of you?!”

The boy lifted an arm and Jaebum flinched, but he just scratched a spot behind his ear with an expression as if he had a toothache. “It’s… complicated.” He finally said, very quietly and very slowly. “Explain?” Jaebum huffed.

It was strange having his gatekeeper on his sofa with a cup of coffee. It was even stranger that he didn’t feel the slightest bit out of place. It was Jaebum who started. “So, you’re a witch?” He asked with a hint of sarcasm. He still didn’t know if he believed it. Maybe Jinyoung was right and it was all in his head and he needed a therapy. The boy seemed to notice. “But you don’t really believe me?” He asked sadly. “I don’t even know your name.” Jaebum distracted for a moment. “I keep calling you stalker.” He chuckled just as miserably. “That’s where it starts I guess.” He answered eventually. “Telling someone my name is… it’s very dangerous for me. Nobody should know it.” Jaebum couldn’t help the rolling of his eyes. “Fine.” He said. “Let’s not talk about what I believe or don’t. Just explain. And tell me what to call you.”

The silence that followed was agonizing to the point that he felt guilt settle heavily in his chest. He felt like he deserved an explanation with all the strange things going on, but… He _had_ saved his life if that actually happened. And it wasn’t the only thing. He’d saved him before. Maybe not when his life was in danger, but at least his career. He knew that, despite desperately suppressing the memories of it. How he helped him, time and time again.

He remembered how the fans backed off when he felt like he was suffocating. But he also remembered that time when some fans snatched pictures of him and Jackson -Seungwoo’s predecessor and a struggling wannabe-model- in a compromising situation. Not only did Jackson go back to China to become a big star, the photos never made it onto the internet and though there was a rumor, it was baseless and nothing the company couldn’t handle. Of course Jaebum had _assumed_ , the PR department had solved the situation, but he’d seen the boy there, right behind the scandalized girls. He remembered that final concert of his tour, when he was battling his alcohol addiction and he couldn’t sing a straight note that day. There was a fire in the stadium and the concert was postponed. Nobody got hurt but neither could the fire department figure out what caused it and despite suspecting arson, no suspects where ever named. Jaebum knew what he saw that morning during rehearsal, on a seat high up the rows.

“Jae.” He heard a small voice through the fog of memories. “I can’t… give you my full name, so I’ll give you half of it.” He watched the boy’s lips move and repeated it in his head. _Jae_. It could be anything, he figured. It could be the first or the second half of his name. But it eased him, just a little. “Okay… Jae.” He answered and nodded.

“I won’t hurt you.” Jae said unnecessarily. As if Jaebum didn’t know that. “I do have… powers, but… I use them to protect you.” “Why?!” Jaebum threw in, because he couldn’t not. “Because I promised.” Jae looked more distressed with every second passing. He’d set his cup away, hands flat on his lap. “Jaebum-ah…” He said with so much sadness, it made his heart ache. “I promised I would always keep you safe. And I keep that promise, no matter what. I’ve always kept it. And you always…” He took a shuddering breath and when he spoke again his voice was different. “No matter how many times you leave me. You always… always come back to me…” Jaebum stared at him. “You’re mortal…” Jae said as if it explained anything.

“When you do…” He kept talking after what felt like an eternity. “When you… return… I can find you. And… I can protect you, but I can’t…” There were tears brimming in his eyes and Jaebum felt like looking at a completely different person. “I can’t make you see me.” He whispered finally and then his voice died. A lonely tear rolled down his left cheek and Jaebum’s heart felt like it was pierced by iron hooks. He couldn’t tell where it came from, but he felt his sadness and deep down he felt something else and he knew what it was and it was old and new at the same time. He felt affection.

“I see you.” The words came out of his mouth without his conscious decision. Jae whimpered and covered his face with his hands. He cried. “It took you so long.” He sniffed. Jaebum felt drawn to him. It was strange, he felt like his life was pushed into the background, like his own self was a third party observer to what was going on in his heart. “It hurt so much.” Jae whined behind his palms. “To see you like that…” What he said earlier that night creeped back to the forefront of his mind. “With other men…?” He breathed out. Jae made a sound, like a tear-jerked laughter, a drowned chuckle. “No.” He took his hands down. “Like _that_.” He pointed at him. “So… sad.” He sniffed again and stopped whimpering for a moment. “So lonely… And… I couldn’t help.”

Jaebum was certain that his heart broke for good. He couldn’t tell for whom. Was that it? His sadness? His pain? His whole life in search of _it_ ? The thing that would make him happy? His desperate quest for connection? His one true aspiration. To find love? True, absolute, love? And he couldn’t find it, because he looked in the wrong places. Because deep down he would know how it should feel like. He remembered how he asked Jinyoung. “ _Do you believe in fate_?” Was it real? Was it fate? Was he destined to find and be found by this beautiful, immortal being?

He flinched when he felt a warm palm against his cheek. He didn’t see Jae getting up and coming closer. He knelt on the floor, one arm on his knees and looked up to him. “I’m sorry if I scared you…” He whispered. “I’m sorry if I confused you, I…” His lips were parted and shiny in the dim light. Long strands of dark hair falling across his forehead. Chocolate brown, narrow eyes gazing up at him gently. “I don’t know the person in there.” His thumb brushed against his temple. “I only know the man in here.” And his other hand came up to rest against his chest. Jaebum felt his heart race. His eyes fluttered shut by themselves.

For a moment there was nothing. No light, no sound. He wasn’t even sure he had a body. Behind his closed lids a picture formed. A beautiful face with full lips and bright eyes. A cute mole under the left one. Then soft, pillowy lips sealed against his own. The sweetest of kisses. Jaebum’s arms found a lithe body to curl around and pull close. Warmth spread through him. He was so hungry for it. He needed it so bad. Time didn’t seem to matter as they kissed and kissed and kissed. Everything was slow and warm and soft. Life was kind, Fortuna smiled down at him from the heavens.

He was suffocating, their lips parted. Jaebum breathed in the scent of body wash and fabric softener and dog. His mind spun. He heard a whisper and almost didn’t realize that it was himself.

A noisy jingle broke the silence and Jaebum’s eyes flew open. The sun blinded him through the open blends of his bedroom. He sat up, his blanket falling off his naked torso. He turned off his alarm looking around him disoriented. He fell asleep after Seungwoo left, didn’t he? He lifted a hand to touch his own lips. He was just kissing… It felt so real. He swung his feet off the bed and headed for the shower. He was pretty certain that the inability to discern between dreams and reality was a sign of mental illness. He decided that he would finally relent and allow his company to put him into a therapy session when he passed by the living room.

Over on the table stood two half-empty cups of coffee.


	2. Chapter 2

“Do you still believe in that ghost?” Jinyoung asked while reluctantly serving him a piece of his anniversary cake. Jaebum pretended to answer by mumbling incoherently. “What got you spooked sunbae?” Yugyeom asked, bouncing into the living room and accepting a significantly larger slice of cake. Admittedly he bought it, so… He also seemed a lot less bothered by the fact that Jaebum had accommodated himself onto Jinyoung’s couch for the night, absolutely unfazed by the fact that it was their three-month anniversary. Jaebum didn’t understand what was so significant about three anyways. Might as well celebrate your thirteen-week anniversary too.

“There is a…” Jaebum took a heavy breath. “A stalker out…side my apartment.” Yugyeom gasped, Jinyoung scoffed. “Tell the company and spend the night at hotel, Hyung.” He complained but got smacked by his boyfriend. Yugyeom might be his new best friend, Jaebum decided and in a display of childishness stuck his tongue out at his former one. “What’s his name?” Yugyeom wanted to know, stuffing a spoonful of buttercream frosting in his mouth. “What, why?” Jaebum gave back, swallowing his own bite of sugar and fat, numb to the bad conscience that seemed to nag him with the voice of his personal trainer. “Just.” Yugyeom shrugged but looked a little sheepish. “Like. Who is he?” Jaebum clanked the spoon against his teeth. “Did I say it was a ‘he’?”

The silence that followed was a bit awkward. Yugyeom slurped some choco shake through a straw. It went over Jaebum’s head how someone could have a sweet drink together with sweet cake. “Gyeom-ah.” He said. In any other situation it wouldn’t have bothered him. But with how strange everything was recently, every little thing made him rightfully suspicious. “Just.” He said again, ducking. “It isn’t… you know… Chunghee?” Jaebum groaned and flung a spoonful of buttercream at Jinyoung. “Stop infesting his mind like that. It’s enough you can’t leave this shit alone.” Jinyoung protested loudly. “I have nothing to do with that.” But Jaebum wouldn’t listen.

  
  


“Have you told the company about the stalker?” Jinyoung asked, much later when they had a beer together. Yugyeom had fallen asleep with his head in Jinyoung’s lap and it was fucking adorable. Jaebum shook his head. “It’s complicated.” He sighed, parroting what Jae said to him last night in front of his door. Or maybe in bed in a fucking dream. How was he supposed to know? “How so?” Jinyoung poked. Huffing and puffing and groaning didn’t get Jaebum out of it this time, so he finally relented. “He’s not normal.” He muttered. “Well. _D’uh_.” Jinyoung made. He had a good public image, but behind closed doors he showed no sympathy for people he deemed unworthy of it.

“That’s not what I mean.” Jaebum complained. “It’s dumb and you won’t believe me, but he’s like… supernatural or something. Like a… witch.” He stared at the black screen of the TV. Jinyoung didn’t answer. Jaebum waited stoically, but it took too long, Jinyoung didn’t even scoff. So he turned to the side, just to find him looking back with an expecting expression. Didn’t he listen? Was he waiting for the “just a joke, lol”? “’nyoungie!” Jaebum complained. “I mean it, there’s something…” Jinyoung still didn’t react. Like… At all. He was completely still, as if he was…. Frozen. Jaebum shuddered, an image crawled into his mind, Chunghee with the knife, time slowing down until it stopped and everything was still.

He startled backwards, but then he saw a motion and his eyes wandered down. Propped up on Jinyoung’s still legs, Yugyeom tilted his head and blinked up at him. “You better not get him involved.” He said quietly. “For his safety.”

Jaebum screeched, very unmanly and jumped off the couch, noticing distantly that Jinyoung didn’t flinch in his frozen state. Yugyeom followed him to his feet. “I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this.” He mused, scratching his head. Jaebum pointed at him, stuttering and attempted to bring the sofa between them. „Jaebum-sunbae-niiim.“ Yugyeom drew-out long and sounded too much like the innocent young dancer that joined the company with great aspiration and little worry. “Don’t be afraid of me.” He pleaded. “I won’t hurt you.”

“That’s what he said!” Jaebum yelled, almost yelled, fingers digging into the sofa’s backrest right behind Jinyoung’s static head. Okay it’d been true, sort of. But, just because he didn’t physically hurt him… He drove him mad, wasn’t that enough hurt? Yugyeom didn’t flinch. His stoic face looked at him and something dawned on Jaebum. “You know?” He gasped, eyes widening. “Him? He… How he… The uh...” He didn’t manage a full sentence but Yugyeom still nodded. “Let’s say I know _about_ him.” He grimaced. “Well???” Jaebum asked, fingers cramping. He felt a lump in his throat that frightened him. Yugyeom looked confused. “Well?????” He repeated before he burst. “What the hell is going on?!”

He watched Yugyeom chew his bottom lip, before he slowly began. “Well I… uhm… I was sent. To investigate.” Jaebum frowned. “Heh?” he asked and heard the petulant whine in his own voice. “By the witches council? I’m a… I’m a witch.” He cleared his throat. “He, uhm… You know  _he_ . Broke laws that...” Yugyeom sucked at explaining things. “Laws?” Jaebum wailed. “There are laws? For witches?” It should have gotten easier by now, but, it really hadn’t. “Yeah, of course...” Yugyeom shrugged. “Imagine magical beings just being out and about doing whatever.” Jaebum didn’t really want to imagine. “In fact, there is a law against… We’re not allowed to reveal ourselves to mortals. Which is why I didn’t want you to spill in front of Jinyoung.” Jaebum felt like he forgot about Jinyoung still being in the room. “But. Like… You just revealed yourself to  _me_ .”

“True, but… I wasn’t the first to do that. Since you already knew about our existence, it’s technically… I mean I wouldn’t call it legal as much as, hum, a loophole?” He grinned, which reminded Jaebum of Yugyeom a lot. The person talking about witches councils not so much. “Jaebum, what’s his name?” He suddenly said. Jaebum startled a little, opened his mouth on instinct. _‘It could be very dangerous.’_ echoed in his head. “I don’t know.” He answered slowly, watched Yugyeom’s brows draw tight. “Why?” He saw the hesitation in Yugyeom’s face. Like there was a retort sitting on his tongue. But then he sighed. “I’m not trying to deceive you. Names… hold a lot of power. We couldn’t find his. So I was sent to stay near you, as he seems to show interest in you, hoping he’d open up to you.”

Jaebum took a few breaths in an attempt to sort his thoughts. Didn’t work. “Why? What did he do? Is he… evil?” He saw the corner of his mouth twitch before receiving a careful shake of a head. “No. Maybe. Not necessarily. He did break laws, so he could be considered a criminal. But the thing is  mainly , he stayed out of the jurisdiction of the witches’ counsel for a couple of centuries and it’s looking suspicious. We just. Want to know who he is.” Jaebum found that reasoning also very suspicious. “What laws?” He inquired, pushing back the ‘several centuries’ thing for later. “Mind control. Dangerous manipulation of the physical world.” Yugyeom said it in a way as if it wasn’t a big deal. The fire came to his mind, the fans with the photos. Jae did that for him.

“Mortals.” He spoke suddely. “Like me...” Yugyeom nodded that he was listening. “Do we get reborn?” He watched confusion on his young face. Was he also centuries old? “Uhhh… Not sure?” He squirmed a little. “Like… sure some people claim. If you’re uh… If you live long and you love someone who dies. I guess you would want to see them in… a person again, but.” He sighed. “Who can tell for sure?” He shrugged helplessly. Then his gaze wandered down, found Jinyoung’s still face. “It would be nice.” He breathed out and somehow Jaebum felt it. He swallowed his inquiry about their relationship.

“Did he say that?” Yuygeom finally asked him and Jaebum could just nod. He was tired. “Can you tell exactly what he did?” He had to ask. “I mean the laws he broke, because he said… Because he said he wanted to keep me safe. He did things for… for me.” It was strange. He was grateful and frightened. It should be romantic or… something that Jae would go as far as get in trouble with the law just to save him from something. Flattering. But he didn’t want to be responsible for unlawful behaviour either.

Yugyeom, finally, walked around the sofa and placed a hand on his elbow. “No.” He answered. “Witchcraft isn’t an exact science. If it makes you feel better… I don’t think he’s dangerous. We’ve all done stupid things for love. In a lifetime as long as ours… you’re bound to do something dumb once in a while. But he will have to bear the consequences  eventually . So… if he ever tells you his name… It’s your decision, really. We don’t govern mortals. Just know that… You… Just know what you hold.” Jaebum nodded mechanically.  He didn’t understand, but his brain was too full to take in any more.

Yugyeom walked back. “Talk to me if you have questions and if something happens that affects you, I’ll update you okay?” He smiled, easing the furry feeling in Jaebum’s guts  a bit . He didn’t just feel tired. He was  _so_ exhausted. Nodding he walked around the sofa too and sat. “Should  _I_ inform the company for you?” Jinyoung asked. Jaebum looked at him for a moment, then he shook his head. “It’s fine.” He muttered. He grabbed Yugyeom’s head and shoved him off Jinyoung’s legs, ignoring the protest from both parties and curled in on his lap himself. “I’m sleepy.” He mumbled and for some reason the lump in his throat was back and pushed and pushed and he heard the thickness of his own voice and the complaints died down. He felt Jinyoung’s warmth against his cheek and his fingers against his scalp and he slept well. So well that he woke up the next morning with a complexion that Stylist Noona wouldn’t be able to complain about.

  
  


  
  


  
  


“Are you okay?” There was genuine worry on Jae’s face. His large eyes that reminded him of someone looked at him intently. He stood in front of his door when Jaebum came home. “Sure.” He mumbled. “Why?” Jae stepped closer. “You didn’t come home last night.” He whispered. “Can’t you usually tell where I am?” He retorted and it was somehow a question and somehow not. Jae sighed. “I can normally.” He said softly. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t fully trust me and that’s perfectly fine. I told myself I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I told myself I wouldn’t expect anything from you.” He sounded hurt but sincere and Jaebum felt himself go soft.

“You...” Jae took a deep breath and steadied himself, looking him in the eyes again. “You were with a witch. Whoever, but they blocked me out. I’ll admit.” he raised his hands to show his palms. “I was worried. And possibly jealous. Worried about you and… whatever they might have said about me. And I’m trying to control myself. I’m sorry. If there is something you want to know about me… The extends of my power anything like that. I will tell you. And if you want me to vanish and...” His voice wavered. “Never speak to you again… Okay. Okay?” He sounded out of breath. Jaebum felt bad and he felt bad that he did. He shouldn’t. But… it wasn’t that boy’s… _witches_ ’ fault to be incurably in… He swallowed.

“Do you love me?” He only realized he said that after he watched Jae’s eyes grow wide. He didn’t say anything, but he nodded. Slowly. Jaebum felt his blood warm. “What could that witch have told me about you?” Jaebum realized that they were still in his hallway when he watched Jae shift onto his other leg. He punched in his code and pulled his door open a crack, but turned around to expect his answer. “That… I’m on the run from the law?” he pulled a face that looked sort of cute and sort of like he was in pain. Jaebum opened the door fully and jerked his head. He didn’t regret it when he watched the perfect, pure joy break out on Jae’s face as he stepped over the threshold.

They made it to his living room. Jae stopped before him and when he followed his gaze he spotted the cups still on the table, stale, crusted coffee stuck to the inside. “Oh yeah.” Jaebum waved a hand dismissively as if it didn’t matter. “Did we kiss that night?” Jae seemed to shrink in on himself before he nodded. “Yeah… sorry.” He breathed barely audible. “And then? I don’t quite remember what happened.” Jae cleared his throat carefully again.  He knew what he meant. “I… had to leave quickly.” He looked ashamed indeed. “I’m… on the run so...” He huffed a breath. “Sorry.”

“You said that.” Jaebum grumbled. “Don’t ever do that again.” To that Jae nodded quickly. He looked a bit like a puppy wiggling up and down. “I was… out of… I overstepped my boundaries.” He concluded. “I didn’t know what I was doing, I was… I’m not...” His gaze dropped to the ground. He looked lost the way he stood there, in the middle of Jaebum’s living room. “I’m not that strong.” His voice went quieter. “I lost myself there. I don’t know how to do… without you. I know this sounds stupid. I can do all these things. Magic. But that’s all. That’s all I can do. Protect you, like I said. But everything else I don’t know. I don’t know how to win you over. Or make you happy. Or make things work. It was always you. It’s always you who knows these things and I’m...” He looked up and their eyes met. Something sparked between them. “I’m lost without you.”

Jaebum didn’t know what came over him. He knew it was stupid, but he couldn’t help it. He stumbled forward until Jae was within reach. He didn’t know how their hands found each other, how their fingers managed to entangle the way they did. But he did know that he leaned forward  consciously , with his eyes open to not fall again and their lips met in a kiss. It was warm and sizzled like electricity. Their tongues danced and Jaebum’s arms wrapped around the slim body. He held him close, pulled him closer. He stumbled. Jae pushed him and he fell, but he landed softly between his sheets on his unmade bed. Their clothes fell off the sides without him touching them, without his doing at all and Jae’s naked body was over him, under him. Perfect, milky skin stretched over hard muscle and soft flesh. His sounds were beautiful, they evoked a longing inside him that he couldn’t place. Something in his chest yearned and screamed and he kissed harder, tugged closer and pushed deeper to make it cease. His fingers didn’t stop exploring and yet could never find what they were searching for, couldn’t grasp whatever they tried to hold. His front met the full cheeks and Jae’s head fell back, long strands of hair falling everywhere. He was glowing in the dark, beautiful and unreachable. They moved in perfect synchrony and came the same way.

Jaebum never felt that exhausted before. He fell onto the mattress, spent and tired and he saw Jae’s head on the pillow, but he felt so far away, as if worlds sat between them. “I love you, Jaebum-ah.” He heard him whisper and shuddered. He meant to say it too, he really did. But whom would he be saying it to? “I don’t even know your name.” He breathed in a frail voice. Jae moved closer, closer until he was inside him and his lips touched his ear when he spoke tenderly.

  
  


  
  


  
  


“So… what does it do for me that I know your name?” Jaebum asked, planted onto the table and looking up thoughtfully. “Is Yugyeom even your name?” He added alerted. Yugyeom gave his lollipop a big lick before answering. “It is.” He confirmed. “I got nothing to hide. So.” He leaned back and glanced around for a moment. Everyone seemed to be busy. “Knowing my name can help you break spells that I put on you. Or that I attempt to put on you.” Jaebum frowned. “Like. Though spell shalt be broken. Kim Yugyeom.” Yugyeom laughed, loud enough to have half the room look in their direction and Jaebum zapped upright. “What the hell?!” He asked, pointing at him and staring at the fire-, like FIERY red hair on his head. “For example.” He chuckled and tugged on a strand that had been undeniably black just a moment ago.

Jaebum gaped. “You… bewitched me to think your hair is dark?” He asked confused. “Well, everyone basically.” He shrugged but he was still grinning, a little too happy about Jaebum’s confusion. “Sticks out a lot don’t you think?” Jaebum reached over the table to touch it. It felt normal. “That’s like… your natural hair color?” Yugyeom nodded. “Yeah witches tend to have something unusual about their appearance. But it’s a simple spell to hide it from humans.” Jaebum pulled the strand, making him yelp before he sank back into his chair. “And I really just broke it?” He couldn’t really believe it. “Just like that?! Or are you messing with me?” He pouted but Yugyeom shook his head, grin finally gone as he rubbed the spot on his scalp that Jaebum hurt. “No you really broke it.” He pouted back and it was a whole lot cuter than what Jaebum could achieve even when he really tried. “I said it was a simple spell. A more complicated one would require more effort. Like you really have to concentrate, you know?”

Jaebum’s forehead crinkled while he focused. “Whatever else this one Yugyeom bewitched me with, I want it gone.” He chanted, but Yugyeom just laughed again. “There is nothing else.” He giggled, “I swear.” “Why do you need a spell for that anyways?” Jaebum tilted his head. “You could just dye it?” He watched Yugyeom curl a lock around his index. “Hair dye doesn’t stick to witch hair.” He frowned. “How inconvenient.” Then something else came up in his thoughts. “So if you’re making me see something that isn’t there… Isn’t that mind control?” Bigger pout. “Noooo.” Yugyeom quirked. “If I made you do something you wouldn’t normally do or say something you don’t want to say. Or if I bewitched you to have Ailurophobia, that would be considered mind control.” “Ailo-what?” Jaebum scrunched his nose. “Fear of cats.” Yugyeom stuck his tongue out at him. “There’s always a grey area, of course and even among the spells that are forbidden, not everything has the same severity. But the ground rule is, if it hurts someone or robs them of their free will, it’ll be forbidden.”

Jaebum hummed, thinking about all the things he’d done. “Can I break the spell for someone else?” His eyes strayed across the room to where Jinyoung was getting his Make-up done. “Uh… theoretically. Jaebum…. Sunbae. Magic is really complicated. - Please don’t do that.” Yugyeom looked over to his boyfriend as well. “I don’t want to have to explain this.” “Can’t you… make him forget  if he saw  it?” Yugyeom raised his brows at him. “That’s… actually one of the worst offenses.” He admitted. “I mean there’s like… a way around it. Cloud their mind, make them think it was a dream, stuff like that. But outright altering someone’s memory.” He flicked his head. “Not good.”

Not good.

Jaebum put his chin down on the table as he concentrated really hard.

  
  


  
  


  
  


He didn’t even have his phone number, Jaebum realized. He’d decided it was cheat day today and he lounged around on his sofa, catching up on new dramas and munching a plethora of deep fried food. There were a drama or two he’d had to ban from his watchlist. After turning them on and ending up yelling at his TV screen. “That’s not how magic works you dumbasses.” He’d huffed and switched it out for something that was ‘based in reality’. It was late in the night, but since tomorrow was one rare day off work he’d decided  out of pure spite that  he couldn’t go to sleep  yet .

Did he even need a phone number? Or a phone? Could he just call for him into the darkness of his apartment and he’d hear? How far could he hear? Did he have to stand outside his apartment? Which he didn’t, this evening as Jaebum ha s had to begrudgingly find out. And very obviously he still had so many questions, so many things to learn. He rolled around on the sofa and threw a half-eaten piece of chicken back into its container, feeling like he’d throw up if he took just another bite. He looked at the TV and had no idea what was going on there.

He just contemplated if it was worth it to restart the episode, when the sudden noise of the doorbell startled him out of his daze. He sat up with a surprised gasp, heart picking up speed in his chest. It was almost one in the morning. He flung himself off the sofa and stumbled towards his door, wiping some grease off his lips with the sleeve of his sweater.

“I was wondering if I could reach you somehow or if I was always reliant on you to…” He broke off, confused after throwing the door open. For a moment he didn’t know what he was looking at. Didn’t know what caused him to quiet in confusion. It should be normal but it wasn’t. He looked at the lost figure standing in the bright hallways lights with his shoulders drawn up under his woolen coat. And it took him a ridiculously large amount of time to realize. His mouth fell open and a shudder ran don from his scalp all the way to his toes. His heart missed a beat just to tumble back into an even faster pace.

“What the…” He breathed out and deep inside he knew he should grab the door and pull it shut, lock it tight and call someone, but… He couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

Chunghee raised his hands to his shoulders, palms facing him in the internationally understood symbol of surrender. There were tears glittering in his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He whispered through the silence and the words rung loud in Jaebum’s ears. “Before you….” Chunghee sounded out of breath, his voice was shaking. “Lock me out or… or call the police, I just wanted to… I  _needed_ to tell you I’m sorry.” Before he even finished one sentence his voice was thick with tears as one rolled down his right cheek. “For what it’s worth… I’m sorry. I never…” He swallowed hard. “Meant to hurt you… I couldn’t with… I’m so sorry, Bab-… JB-ssi.”

He didn’t know what exactly snapped him out of it, but something did. Maybe it was the way he called him by his idol name. Chunghee had never done that, from the very first moment it had always been ‘Darlin’’ and with people calling your name day in and day out, everyday all day it’d been so relieving to not be that person  for a while . Be someone’s instead. He remembered what Yugyeom said and wondered if Chunghee had just broken a curse.

“Sorry for what?” He asked. It was a stupid question. He knew. They both knew. But his brain was ahead of him. Chunghee sobbed, pitifully. “What I did I… I remember it. Now I do. I don’t know why I didn’t. I don’t know why it took so long, but when I remembered I was so… God, this is so dumb. But I’m so sorry for what I did, I didn’t mean to, it wasn’t me, that wasn’t….” He pulled up his nose grossly, face twisted in pain. Jaebum felt it. It squeezed his heart and numbed his limbs. “You should be.” He breathed quietly. He didn’t know how he could stay so calm. He should’ve run back inside by now. But how could he? Chunghee was so small. So fragile. How could he possibly hurt him?

“I am!” He insisted. “I am. I never wanted that I…” He shook his head wildly as if he was trying to get rid of a fly that tangled in his soft brown curls. “I know you have no reason to forgive me. A-a-and I don’t even really want you to, I know you won’t believe me, but… I _swear_ , I didn’t want to hurt you, ever.” His uneven breaths were shaking heavily. “That wasn’t me. It wasn’t me.” And then he started crying for good and Jaebum’s chest ached so much and he so desperately wanted to go back. Back to the days when everything was easier when he would wrap his arms around this pretty boy and hold him and pretend he wasn’t paying him a fortune and feel like…

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t… I wouldn’t do that I… there… There was…” A shaky breath, a heartbeat of silence and a voice ridden with terror. “… someone in my head.” Tears were streaming down his face with no stopping them, but despite his hysterical crying he didn’t take his hands down, as if he was afraid Jaebum would slam the door shut the second he moved. And he wondered if it was desperate or calculated.

“Someone… something… made me do that I… I… I… didn’t even remember, just that-eh when you, when I wasn’t allowed to see you anymore and it hurt so bad, because I love you so much, but I didn’t know and then….” Jaebum felt bad, he really felt bad how he stood there in his grease-stained clothes and watched the poor boy on the verge of breaking apart. He knew. He knew something wasn’t right. “And then, and then.” Chunghee’s hands balled in to fists and he pulled them closer but didn’t take them down. It was less a gesture of ‘I won’t harm you’ anymore and rather one of ‘Please don’t hurt me’. “When I remembered suddenly I couldn’t believe, I was… It wasn’t like… it was really me, I was just… looking and couldn’t _do_ anything and _it_ … it it. It hurt you and… _It was in my head_.”

The greasy food churned in Jaebum’s stomach. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to lean over and throw it up. He wanted to believe him, he so badly wanted to, but he also knew there would be consequences. Bad ones. “You’re right.” He finally spoke and watched Chunghee’s swollen eyes peek up at him while realizing that he himself, too, sounded like crying. “I can’t just forgive you, but… For what it’s worth.” He granted. “I do believe it’s possible… That there was someone in your head.”

Chunghee’s crying seized, but he hiccupped. “Everyone told me to stay away from you.” He mumbled in between. “They were right, it wasn’t healthy, I was… I shouldn’t have been falling in love with you and I shouldn’t… Have been jealous, I made way for… for something and… I won’t come near you again…” He whispered near the end. Jaebum wanted him so much.

“I want it to be true…” He admitted and only when he did, he realized something. “It would be my fault.” He breathed out, shivering. Chunghee hiccupped loudly. “No!” He finally moved his hands. Despite the easily two meters between them he seemed to be reaching out for him while he forcefully shook his head. “It’s not your fault, never, please don’t…” But Jaebum couldn’t hear him. “It is.” He realized. “It is my fault.” He slapped a hand in front of his mouth and he saw Chunghee, he saw him standing there with his pretty round eyes and his soft cheeks and his chapped lips and. “If it was just to keep you away from me…” he mumbled manically and reached for his pocket, fumbling for his phone. He saw the confusion in Chunghee’s eyes but how was he supposed to explain himself if he wasn’t even sure what he was thinking?

He pressed the button on his phone and between gasping for air and shaking fingers he breathed out the words, recording a voice message.

It was quiet. Chunghee stared at him with big, glassy eyes, lips parted around a breath he didn’t take. Jaebum felt it in his core, he felt it on his skin. When he looked over his shoulder down the hallway, he wondered what was even real.

He was not crying. His edges were blurry. And he wasn’t even that pretty. Jaebum felt a strong pull. He thought of promises, of confessions, he remembered beautiful words and beautiful days. Maybe he didn’t. Maybe it was all in his head. He shook it. He watched his eyes fill with tears after all. “No.” He said. “ You shouldn’t have done that.” He spoke slowly, deeply sad. “ Don’t do that. I love you. I  _need_ you.” He plead. “ You don’t understand. There are things I have to do. Things need to be done. You will understand, just give me more time, just a little.”

“I don’t think I am the same.” Jaebum answered slowly. “I know you won’t hurt me.” He said. “But if you need to hurt other people just to be with me, then maybe we don’t belong.” He took a few steps, his shoulder brushed Chunghee’s as he passed by him and he moved when it did. The subtle smell of his hair found its way in his nose and then he stood between them, blocking Chunghee’s form behind his back. He heard his quiet sniffs.

His shoulders shook in silent sobs. His hair was too long, his body too lean, his eyes too slim. He was there and yet not. There was a hand against his back, Chunghee’s warm palm. “I meant everything.” He said. “It’s true, I swear. I will pay for  what I’ve done , for everything, just let me...” Jaebum shook his head again. “I will. After. Just let me be with you, now, just for...” He came closer  even though he  didn’t seem to be  moving. Jaebum backed away slowly. “I’m sorry.” He whispered. He didn’t know if it was the right choice, how should he. He couldn’t know what he would get. But wasn’t it better, even if it was wrong when it was at least real?

He found the ‘send’ button on his phone with his thumb, heard him gasp. “I trusted you!” He yelled. The anger in his eyes was too familiar. “I can’t trust you.” Jaebum answered. “Not now. Not this time.” He felt the shift. The flutter of air that he came to learn so recently. “Just find me again.”

  
  


There was a loud bang. Jaebum didn’t stay to watch. He flung around, grabbed Chunghee by the coat and jumped back inside his apartment, throwing the door shut behind them. He felt out of breath. It wasn’t so much physical exertion as it was emotional one. He wished one day he could stop feeling so drained.

His fist was still right around the fabric of Chunghee’s sleeve. He meant to let it go, but he didn’t. “What just happened?” He heard him ask and found his frightened eyes and shaking lips. “I don’t know.” He answered, it was the truth in a way even though probably not in the same way that Chunghee meant. “I think I just made a choice that I didn’t know I had.”  He whispered  and as it settled in, his heart contracted in fear. Fingertips brushed against his cheek.  It was but a soft flutter and yet it grounded him. It made him see, what he always saw. He loved him, he was sure of it, but he knew, now, what he saw in him. “You.” He breathed out.

The soft lips he kissed, the tender skin he touched. The whisper of a name on his lips that wasn’t… The handsome boy in the hallway, how he could be so drawn to him. He didn’t see him, before he saw what he loved already. “ I don’t know what’s going on.” Chunghee said. “But… Right now I’m… happy.”  Jaebum yearned. “Chunghee-ah...” He whispered and saw his face twist in pain. “Actually...” He chimed in. “Chunghee is not my real name. It’s for… work.” He took a shaky breath through the ringing in Jaebum’s ears. “I’m Youngjae. Choi Youngjae.”

  
  


  
  


A sudden ‘Pling’ tore him from his thoughts. He realized he still held his phone and he checked it absently,  glad for the distraction . “Thank you for you trust, sunbae :)” He read. “He was arrested. I hope you’re okay. Let’s talk tomorrow.” Jaebum nodded at his screen. The voice message was still there in the chat, above Yugyeom’s text. The voice message with his name.  He wrapped his arms around Youngjae’s shoulders and pulled him close, breathing in the smell of dog that was always on his clothes, feeling the warmth and softness of the body he knew so well dissolve in his embrace.

Yook Jaemin would have to find him in his next life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: I would like to remind you that it is physically impossible to slap someone through the internet, so I would like to remind you all to limit yourself to incoherently capslocked screaming and up 3 emojis of your choice. Love ya ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Say [ hello ](https://twitter.com/totallzlegit)


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